sunday morning poem and a drive to long island

 

the end of may

the fragrant air is full of down,

of floating, fleecy things

from some forgotten fairy town

where all the folk wear wings.

or else the snowflakes, soft arrayed

in dainty suits of lace

have ventured back in masquerade,

spring's festival to grace.

or these, perchance, are fleets of fluff,

laden with rainbow seeds,

that count their cargo rich enough

though all its wealth be weeds.

or come they from the golden trees,

where dancing blossoms were,

that now are drifting on the breeze,

sweet ghosts of gossamer?

by katherine lee bates (1859-1929)

(photo from a family trip to the new york botanical garden, may 26, 2014)

----

marisa, tsering, greg and i went to see lizette in rehab. she was doing much better and she's hoping to go home soon. it was so nice to be together and to also meet her sister-in-law, fina. afterwards, we had a late breakfast at the great neck diner, where greg had eaten last sunday.

heading home . . 

in the evening, greg and i had ice cream at julietta's . . 

. . lemon sorbetto and vanilla gelato.

sunday (mother's day)

we were out early in the morning to drive to the hospital in manhasset again. we first picked deychen up in brooklyn as she wanted to come along. it was so nice to have her and we talked over coffee and pastry in the hospital's little cafe while waiting for our friends to wake from a nap.

afterwards (and after we dropped deychen deychen home again), chanda, greg and i went out to eat at ayat in the east village.

we first stopped at abraço . . 

for their delicious frappe and olive oil cake.

walking past thompkins square where there was a concert going on . . 

special drinks at ayat (mint lemonade and hibiscus) . . 

and the amazing food . . 

there are so many beautiful gardens and trees in the east village . . it was fun walking through the neighborhood.

kathy sent photos of her day with warren and adam:

they first saw a play in hartford . . 

and then biked along the rail trail . . 

beautiful spring greenery!

waiting for a heart

 greg and i took a trip uptown to see brian's dad today.

 he's been at columbria presbyterian hospital waiting for a heart . .

 the a train is usually a quick ride uptown . . 

 waiting in line to get our room passes . . 

 the last time we visited, we managed to follow someone else who was visiting a patient in the cardiac care unit. today we were on our own and almost took a wrong turn . . but didn't, and successfully found the room finally. brian's dad was sitting up and working on his computer. we talked about everything our children were doing and the conversation was punctuated with lots of beeps from the machines he is hooked up to. when he moves around a lot while sitting up. the wires and tubes must register that some things are off. a nurse needed to come in and press buttons and realign plugs and his blood pressure monitor. he didn't seem too bothered by it. it must happen often. going for a walk, he said, was even worse because everything needs to be disconnected and the plastic tubing always gets tangled.

 we said good-bye around 2 . . and passed this tom otterness pair when getting off the train at 14th street. i like the look on the young man on the right . . i think he was trying to figure out which stairs to go down.

----

we had a late dinner when chanda got home around 7:45 from her dance rehearsal. she's part of a friend's company program (km/dm dance) that is performing september 8th and 9th at manhattan movement and arts center.

take the A train

 14th street subway station . . sculptures by tom otterness.

 168th street station, columbia presbyterian hospital.

 i think this was one of the first buildings to go up on 168th street in 1928. it now houses the dental hosptial.

 an armory! you never know where and when you'll come across one.

 we were here to see brian's dad. unfortunately, neal has always had a bad heart, and he's now on the waiting list for a transplant.

the view from his room. he was in such good spirits and happy to have company. i worried that we were tiring him out, as he regaled us with stories of the nurses and his work and how everything will work for his operation. he's like my friend joanna with a myriad of interesting stories and facts. his very good friend david came by just as we were leaving. today was his wife's day off, so others try to fill in for her. we hope the wait won't be long, but that means someone somewhere has to die . . ? it's a very surreal situation to be in and makes me cry inside.

good friday

today was a very dark, grey and foggy day up until sunset, when it finally brightened a little. when i came home from visiting with my folks i could hear the spring peepers. they were all out and making their beautiful evening music. i love hearing them.

i think you need to turn the volume up in order to hear them. their peeping is very soft. 

my dad was moved today from the hospital to a rehab room in a health care center near my mom. i got there early so i could put his clothes away. 

i was able to greet him when he arrived in the ambulance and walk with them to the room. then i went to get my mom. it's nice to have them near each other again. they were both tired from their day and so napped together while i knitted. then my dad's aide came in to see what he wanted for dinner and i walked my mom home.

everyone has been good to them. we're blessed to have such caring people in our lives.

maundy thursday

we went to tenebrae service this evening. it's always quiet and contemplative and ends in darkness with the church bell tolling thirty three times. last night was a full moon and tonight is the first phase of the waning gibbous. 

at the hospital today i began knitting my portland pullover sweater with shelter yarn on size 7 needles while my mom and i had lunch with my dad. we had salami sandwiches and brown cow chocolate yogurts. he had roast beef and mashed potatoes and orange juice. well, he had only a few bites, but that's a big deal these days. (he did eat all his chocolate ice cream.) we shared the remainder of the munson's chocolates. tomorrow he'll be transferred to the rehab next to my mom, which we're all very happy about.

visiting nana in the hospital

 i drove up to hartford hospital on friday to see my mom who has been recovering from a mini-stroke. she was still in a stand-by room when i arrived, but they moved her shortly after i got there. then we sat together and i knitted while she ate her dinner. 

i stopped by to see my dad afterwards and enjoyed eating some of the delicious lilac mint chocolates we had given them for christmas.

 at my sister's house the christmas tree was still up and looking very beautiful. it was heartening to drive up to the house with all the christmas lights shining and the decorations still up.

 it was all very pretty and toby was happy to see me.

my sister and brother-in-law returned from a work party where they had a great time dancing the night away. my sister missed this party last year and spent it in the emergency room with my mom. funny that my mom is once again in the hospital at the same time this year.

 mom's saturday lunch. so nutritious.

 i asked them to send up prunes and prune juice. mom slept most of the day so i ended up eating her prunes . . but i left her the prune juice.

 this was what i found back at the ranch: party at table five . . 

 which continued on at the thai restaurant.

 we had cashew chicken and a spicy shrimp dish.

this pic was taken while driving home in their new car which had a heater built into the passenger seat to keep your bottom warm. pretty fancy.

it rained all day sunday and my sister and i had a nice breakfast together before heading out in the afternoon to visit mom.

 i love a quiet rainy day. we stopped at the italian bakery on the way home (mazzucato's) for broccoli cheese bread and then stopped at whole foods for a chicken and other goodies (my sister had fun trying out some of the bulk candy i picked out for her: jujus and sun drops).